Tank type vacuum cleaner nozzle



July 8, 1958 s. F. LACHQWICZ 2,841,812

TANK TYPE `VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE Filed March 23. 41956 FIG. 2 4 4 37 309 /7 26 1 28 //0 28 38 e; /9 l l 1 l l l IN VEN TOR. 5T/4NI. EY E LA @H0W/CZ BY v A TORNEYS TANK TYPE VACUUM CLEANER NozzLE Stanley F.Lachowicz, New Britain, Conn., assigner to Landers, Frary & Clark, NewBritain, enn., n poration of Connecticut Application March 23, 1956,Serial No. 573,396

S Claims. `(Cl. 15355) This invention relates to vacuum cleaner nozzlesand more particularly to a nozzle attachment for use with a tank typecleaner having a novel and improved arrangement for adjusting the heightof the nozzle relative to a surface to be cleaned.

It has been found that the usual rug cleaning nozzles associated withtank type vacuum cleaners, if designed to produce satisfactory suctionon short pile rugs will become choked when used on a deep pile rug withthe result that the nozzle is locked to the rug by the suction of thecleaner, thus seriously impeding and even prevent ing manipulation ofthe nozzle. Conversely, when the nozzle is designed to `prevent chokingon deep pile rugs, the nozzle is inadequate for use with short pilerugs. Accordingly, many attempts have been made to provide a nozzlewhich can be adjusted for use on deep, as well as short pile rugs. Thedevices developed, however, have been for the most part complex, quiteoften requiring a plurality of individual adjustments to obtain propersetting of the nozzle, and further, in many cases, because of thestructure employed, resulted in an undesirable reduction in the cleaningcapabilities of the nozzle.

it is therefore the purpose of this invention to provide a novel andimproved means of varying the height of a vacuum cleaner nozzle relativeto a surface being cleaned while retaining the optimum cleaningcapabilities of the nozzle.

It is another purpose of this invention to provide a nozzle of the typedescribed wherein the adjustment of the nozzle height may beaccomplished by an exceedingly simple operation by the user.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,`combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

ln the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a vacuum cleaner` nozzle incorporating thepresent invention with a portion of the nozzle cut away to illustratecertain of the elements of the inveniton;

Fig. 2 is `a bottom view of the nozzle of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the nozzle of Fig. 1 with a portionof the nozzle in cross section and including fragmentary side view of amember assembled with the nozzle which is adapted to receive a vacuumcleaner wand.

The present invention is intended for use with a rug cleaning of a tanktype cleaner wherein the nozzle is mounted on the end of an elongatedwand. Accordingly, the drawings and following description are based onthe use of the invention in combination with such a nozzle.

With reference to the drawings and particularly Fig. 3, a nozzleconstructed in accordance with the invention is comprised of atransversely elongated hollow body mematent ice ber 10 having arearwardly directed internal air passage 11 adapted to receive one endof a wand connector 12 which in turn is adapted to be connected at itsouter end to one end of a vacuum cleaner wand (not shown). A nozzleplate member 13 as best shown in Fig.. 2 is mounted to the bottom of thenozzle body 10 and is provided with a suction slot 14 which provides forthe admission of air into an internal vertically arranged cavity 15 inthe nozzle body which, as can be seen in Fig. 3, communicates with therearwardly directed air passage 11. The plate member 13 is provided withtwo parallel rows of combing teeth 16 with the individual teethextending transversely of the nozzle plate 13. A brush 17is :alsomounted within the nozzle rearwardly of the nozzle plate 13 ,and extendsgenerally parallel to the suction slot 14 with the bristles thereofextending downwardly of the nozzle for engagement with a rug to loosenthedirt therein for removal by the suction air drawn through the nozzle.

In accordance with the invention, a pair of4 nozzle supporting shoemembers 18 and 19 are disposed within the nozzle at each transverse endthereof. The shoe members are generally in the form of a rectilinearcup-like member with the top thereof open and are respectively providedwith bearing surfaces 18a and 19a which are sufficiently large in areato preclude any gouging or marring of the rug by the shoe members andfurther, to provide easy manipulation of the nozzle. The: control shaft24 is disposed internally of the nozzle and is pivotally` jcinnaled inrecesses such as 26 provided in the bottom edges of vertical ribs suchas 27 of the nozzle. The shaft 24 is retained within the recesses 26 bymeans of upwardly struck'projections such as 28 on a cover plate 29which is mounted to the bottom of the nozzle by means such as screw 3).As canjbe seen from Figs. 2 and; 3, the shaft 24 is provided with crankarms 22 and 23 atthe ends thereof, and the crank arms are provided attheir outer ends with crank pins 39 and 40, respectively, on which theshoe members are pivotally mounted intermediate their ends as at 20, 21in the case of shoe member 19. The shaft 24 is restricted in anylongitudinal movement thereof by projections such as 25 provided onvertical ribs 37, 38 of the nozzle body which engage the crank arms 22and 23 of the shaft.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the cover plate 29 is provided with a pair ofears 41, 42 which extend under the brush 17 to retain the brush withinthe nozzle. The brush is normally resiliently maintained in engagementwith the ears 41 and 4t2 by means of a leaf spring (not shown) which isdisposed between and engages the top of the brush and a portion of thenozzle body. The brush is thus automatically adjustable by anyapplication of an upwardly directed force to the bristles thereofbetween an upper limit wherein the brush engages the upper wall of thenozzle body as illustrated in Fig. 1 and a lower portion wherein thebottom of the brush body would engage the ears 41, 42 of the coverplate.

The control shaft 24 is provided with a follower 45 which is attached tothe shaft intermediate its ends by any suitable means such as weldingand extends generally radially of the shaft whereby if a downwardlydirected force is applied to the follower, the shaft 24 will be rotatedin a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3.

Associated with the follower is a cam 47 having an arcuate cam surface48. The cam 47 is rotatably mounted on an annular rearwardly extendingflange 49 centrally located on the nozzle body with a washer-like spring50 mounted on the flange 49 and disposed between the cam and the nozzlebody to impede the rotation of the cam and thus tend to retain the camin any desired rotated position. The cam 47 is retained on the nozzleand in engagement with the spring 50 by means of a cam retaining plate51 secured to the rear of the nozzle body by means such as screw 52which extends through the plate for engagement with one of the verticalribs such as 27. The cam retaining plate also retains a sleeve 56 withinthe air passage 11 by engagement with an annular flange 57 on one end ofthe sleeve. The wand connector 12 is received within the sleeve 56 andis turned or spun over the end of the sleeve as at 58 and provided withan annular bead 5S which engages the flange 57 of the sleeve so that ineffect the cam retaining plate retains the wand connector within thenozzle.

The cam 47 is provided with rearwardly directed arms such as S9 whichextend through slots 60 in the cam retaining plate 51, the rotation ofthe cam being limited by the length of the slots 60. A knob or controlwheel 61 is mounted on the arms 59 of the cam and connected thereto bymeans such as screws 62 whereby rotation of the control wheel 61 willrotate the cam 47 which in turn will result in a rotation of the controlshaft 24.

This rotation of the control shaft 24 will, of course, result in avertical movement of the outer ends of the crank arms 22, 23, whichvertical movement is transferred to the shoe members 18 and 19 to varythe extension thereof below the nozzle body. In order to maintain thecam follower 45 in engagement with the cam surface 48, and for otherreasons to be more fully explained, a pair of coil springs 63 and 64 arein accordance with the invention associated with each of the shoemembers. As can be seen in Fig. 3, the springs 63 and 64 are eachmounted at one end on upwardly struck projections or dimples 65, 66 ofthe shoe member and at the other end on depending lugs 67, 68 on thenozzle body. The springs 63, 64 are preferably of equal strength andserve to urge the shoe members in opposite directions about theirpivotal axis in order to maintain the bearing surfaces 18a and 19a ofthe shoes parallel with the bottom plane of the nozzle. As will be laterapparent it is further preferred that the springs 63, 64 be suicientlylight in force to permit limited pivotal movement of the shoe members asa result of and during normal use of the nozzle.

Projections such as 69 and 70 are provided on the nozzle housing forengagement with the vertical sides of the shoe members to maintain theshoe members in substantial alignment and prevent their being cantedwithin the nozzle whereby adjustment and pivotal movement thereof mightbe impaired.

From the above it can be seen that during the normal operation of thenozzle the weight of the nozzle is supported on the bearing surfaces18a, 19a of the shoe members and that if it is desired to vary theheight of the nozzle plate 13 relative to the bearing surface of theshoe members, it is merely necessary to, far example, rotate the controlwheel 61 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 whereby thecontrol shaft 24 will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in Fig. 3, resulting in an upward movement of the outer ends ofthe crank arms 22, 23 of the control shaft and thus the shoe mem bers 18and 19. Conversely if it is desired to increase the vertical distancebetween the nozzle plate and the bearing surfaces of the shoe members,it is merely necessary to rotate the control wheel in a clockwisedirection to permit the springs V63 and 64 to urge the shoe membersdownwardly to an extent permitted by the cam surface 48. As can be seen,the adjustment of the shoe members which are located at the extremetransverse ends of the nozzle is controlled by a single member locatedcentrally of the l nozzle for ease of adjustment and the operator isassured that by a simple manipulation of this control member both shoemembers will be accurately adjusted as desired and that each shoe memberwill be adjusted an equal amount relative to the other.

It is to be noted that in the use of a nozzle constructed in accordancewith this invention there is permitted a certain amount of pivotalmovement of the shoe members relative to the nozzle housing whichenhances the cleaning capabilities of the nozzle, particularly when the4 shoe members are in their lowermost adjusted position as when usedwith a deep pile rug. In a normal use of the nozzle with the operatormoving the nozzle forwardly or to the right as viewed in Fig. 3, theshoe members will be tilted downwardly relative to the nozzle at theirforward ends and upwardly at their rearward ends or in other words in aclockwise direction relative to the nozzle. Conversely, on the movementof the nozzle rearwardly orto the left as viewed in Fig. 3, the shoemembers will be pivoted in a counterclockwise direction. This pivotalmovement of the shoe members provides for easier manipulation of thenozzle, and further, as can be seen from the above description on theforward movement of the nozzle, the dirtloosening operation of the brush17 is improved inasmuch as this portion of the nozzle is at that timemoved downwardly relative to the rug.

Thus, it can be seen that there has been provided a rug cleaning nozzleof novel construction which will provide emcient cleaning of deep pile,as well as short pile rugs and wherein the adjustment necessary to varythe height of the nozzle relative to the rug is simple while assuringaccurate adjustment and automatic equalizing of the adjustment of theshoe members relative to each other.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover al1 of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

lI claim:

l. lIn a vacuum cleaner nozzle assembly, a transversely elongated hollownozzle housing having a bottom surface provided with an elongatedaperture for the passage of suction air into the nozzle, an elongatedIshaft disposed longitudinally of the aperture and within the nozzlehousing and provided with a crank arm at each end, a shoe memberassociated with each crank arm disposed at each transverse end of thenozzle housing and having a bearing surface disposed below the bottomsurface of the nozzle housing adapted to slide over the surface beingcleaned, the shoe members each being pivotally connected intermediatethe ends thereof to the outer end of its associated crank arm forvertical movement relative to the nozzle housing in response to rotationof the shaft, means resiliently urging each of the shoes in oppositedirections about its pivotal axis, and means disposed centrally of thenozzle housing to selectively rotate the shaft.

2. In a vacuum cleaner nozzle assembly, a transversely elongated Ihollownozzle housing having a bottom surface provided with an elongatedaperture for the passage of suction air into the nozzle, a crank armpivotally mounted within the nozzle housing adjacent-each transverse endthereof and disposed generally transversely of said aperture forvertical movement of one end thereof relative to the nozzle housing, ashoe member associated with each crank arm disposed at each transverseend of the nozzle rhousing and having a wide bearing surface spacedvertically from the bottom surface of the nozzle to support the nozzleon a surface to be cleaned, the shoe members being pivotally connectedintermediate the ends thereof tosaid one end of an associated crank armfor vertical movement relative to the nozzle housing with said one endof the crank arm and for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to thetransverse axis of the nozzle housing, spring means resiliently tendingto maintain said bearing surface of the shoe members in substantialalignment with the bottom surface of the nozzle housing, and manuallymovable means on the nozzle housing to rotate i the cranl; arms to varythe vertical spacing of the bearing surfaces of the shoe members and'said bottom surface.

3. In a vacuum cleaner nozzle assembly, a transversely elongated hollownozzle housing having a bottom surface provided with an aperture for thepassage of suction air into the nozzle, an elongated shaft disposedlongitudinally of the aperture and within the nozzle housing andprovided with a crank arm at each end, a shoe member disposed at eachtransverse end of the nozzle housing and pivotally connectedintermediate its ends to the outer end of each crank arm for verticalmovement relative to the nozzle housing, each shoe member being providedwith a wide substantially flat bearing surface disposed below the bottomsurface of said housing, equalizing spring means urging each of the shoemembers in opposite diret:- tions about its pivotal axis and tending toresiliently maintain said bearing surface in substantial alignment withsaid bottom surface, a follower member on the shaft, and a manuallymovable cam mounted on the nozzle housing and cooperating with thefollower member on the shaft to selectively rotate said shaft to varythe vertical disposition ofthe bearing surfaces of the shoe membersrelative to said bottom surface.

4. In a vacuum cleaner nozzle assembly, a transversely elongated hollownozzle housing having a bottom surface provided with an aperture for thepassage of suction yair into the nozzle, a cam disposed centrally of androtatably mounted on the nozzle housing, a control wheel connected tosaid cam for rotation therewith, a shaft extending longitudinally of theaperture and received within the nozzle housingy for pivotal movementabout its longitudinal axis, a `cam follower extending radially of saidshaft for engagement lwith said cam, said shaft provided with a crankarm at both ends, a shoe member connected intermediate the ends thereofto the outer end of each of the crank arms for limited pivotal movementabout an axis parallel to the transverse axis of said nozzle housing,each shoe member having a Iwide llat bearing surface to support thenozzle relative to a surface to be cleaned, and a pair of springsassociated with cach shoe member and engaged therewith and with thenozzle housing to urge the shoe member in opposite directions about thepivotal axis thereof and to urge the shoe member vertically relative tothe nozzle housing in a direction to `urge the said cam follower intooperative engagement with the cam.

5. In a vacuum cleaner nozzle assembly, a transversely elongated hollownozzle housing having a bottom surface provided with anV elongatedaperture for the passage of suction air into the nozzle, a rearwardlyextending annular flange centrally disposed on the nozzle body andfor-ming an aperture for the passa-ge of suction air from the nozzle, acam rotatably mounted on said annular ange and having a rearwardlyextending arm, said cam having a cam surface disposed radially of saidannular ange, a control wheel connected to the arm of said cam forrotation therewith, a plurality of `vertically disposed ribs within thenozzle housing, extending transversely of the aperture in said bottomsurface and each provided with a recess in the bottom edge thereof, ashaft extending longitudinally of the aperture and pivotally receivedvwithin the recesses in said ribs, a cam follower extending radially `ofsaid shaft for engagement with said cam, a crank arm at each end of saidshaft, a crank pin extending from the outer end of each crank armparallel to said shaft, a rectilinear shoe member mounted intermediatethe end thereof on each of the crank pins, each shoe member beingmounted for limited pivotal movement relative to the nozzle housing andtransversely of said aperture and each having a bottom bearing surfaceto support the nozzle relative to ka surface to be cleaned, and a pairof coil springs associated with each shoe member engaged with the nozzlehousing and the shoe member to urge the shoe member in oppositedirections about its pivotal axis.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,421,661 Taylor lune 3, i947 2,682,682 Lewyt et al. July 6, 1954FOREIGN PATENTS 278,261 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1952 687,545 Great BritainFeb. 18, 1953

